Tag: DIY

So, it’s almost been a MONTH since I’ve made a post (bad on my part). But the truth is, this blog has kind of just been a hobby of mine and, with school starting up again, I’ve not really been making this a priority. That being said, today, I was writing notes and I looked at my binder clip that I use to split my notes into pages (sort of like a book mark, but putting sections together, rather than marking one page), and it was ugly. A little light bulb kind of went off in my head and after making a few clips of my own, I was compelled to share the idea with you!

Now, I am all about buying school supplies. I probably have enough supplies to provide a small middle school (heh)! But, more than that, I love buying cheap school supplies. And cheap means, a lot of my stuff is the basic bare minimum. I’m a simple girl; you know that. The unfortunate factor is that cheap can also mean poorly aesthetic, and not very pleasing to the eye.

I do tend to splurge on cute little notebooks and post its, etc. But when it comes down to what I use for class, I usually just go with the cheapest: plain white binders, with regular college ruled paper, and other basic materials. I do this because (1) if I buy a pattern notebook or binder, I will like the pattern for a couple of weeks…and by the end of the semester I’m just kind of done with it, (2) decorated material tends to cost more, and why am I paying someone else to decorate MY materials, when I could decorate it myself the way I want for less?, and (3) I like my materials to be unique; if I can buy it at the store, so can a hundred other students in the area.

So, after all that, I come to you with an easy DIY to make your own patterned binder clips because they ain’t cheap. I mean, seriously, decorated binder clips are usually like $5 for a pack of four. And you may not even like all the patterns! Also, I haven’t really seen this DIY anywhere…which is surprising because it’s SO SIMPLE, and it uses material you already have laying around. When I thought of it, I was questioning why it took so long to think of this. Once you learn the materials, you can probably already guess what we’re going to do with them!

Here goes:

Materials

washi, or fabric tape

binder clips

scissors

Step One: cut your washi/fabric tape approximately 3/4″ long. This length should cover the size of a mini-binder clip. You may just have to judge by eye for other sizes.Step Two: Stick the tape on the binder clip. I’ve found that 15mm washi tape is the PERFECT size for these mini-clips. Of course, if your washi is too small, you can use two layers. If it’s too big, you can cut it down.Step 3: Fold over the tape to cover the three sides of your binder clip. &That was IT!Viola! Now you have super cute binder clips that weren’t super expensive and fit your taste!

So yeah, it was that easy. Now you’re probably wondering why you didn’t think of it yourself.

Another cool thing about these is that you are never really “stuck” with one pattern. If you decide tomorrow that you don’t like pink polka dots anymore, you can simply peel off the tape and reapply a different pattern. Then you can continue to reuse clips and have virtually an infinite number of cute binder clips!

Thanks for reading,

Yin

Well, that’s all. I hope to hear from you, and hope to be back soon (depending on how vigorous this semester is)! Let me know what you all think about this DIY, and feel free to share pictures of your own clips you’ve made!

So, I promised you a cool post yesterday about how I made my own stickers for my planner. Believe it or not, I do NOT own a sticker machine that creates stickers, because, honestly, I don’t have the money to invest in fancy machines like that—especially since I found a way to make that at home for much less than the cost of a machine and sticker adhesive that comes along with it. Here’s a lengthy tutorial on how to create your own stickers so that you can enjoy personalized stickers that fit your planner and personality 🙂

Materials Needed

Planner

Ruler

Avery White Shipping FULL SHEET Labels 8.5×11″ (I found mine at Wal-mart for about $6 for 10 sheets!)

Printer (with Ink, preferably color)

Scissors or Paper trimmer

Background photos (I grabbed mine from Pinterest)

Microsoft Word (& a positive attitude when working with it!)

Step One: Use your planner as a guide to measure the width and length of the potential sticker. This is a no-brainer! Of course you want your stickers to fit perfectly in your planner.

If you are using my planner template, the “blank space” dimension is 2×2.2″ exactly.

Step Two: Now is the time to open up Word to set up your tables. Bare with me; this is a little bit of a detail oriented bit…but rest assured, I will carry you step by step!

First off, you want to to find the LAYOUT tab, click MARGINS, and then click NARROW.

*From now on, I will be using “>>” to denote what to click next!

Then, click the TABLES tab >> click the (+) button >> hover your mouse to insert a table.Now, right click your table >> TABLE PROPERTIES at the bottom of the listTABLE PROPERTIES will open up a dialog box like so. Click OPTIONS in the bottom right corner.This will open up an even smaller dialog box (so many!), where you will need to make sure that it looks exactly how it is on my screen >> OK

Here are the key details to this dialog box:

Top: enter “0”

Left: enter “0”

Bottom: enter “0”

Right: enter “0”

Allow spacing between cells: unchecked, enter “0”

Automatically resize to fit contents: unchecked (this is very important!)

After you click OK, you will still be in the original dialog box. Refer to the ROW tab >> CHECK the SPECIFY HEIGHT box >> enter the height of your sticker (Mine is 2″) >> Make sure the “Row Height” is set to EXACTLY >> UNCHECK “Allow row to break across pages”Move onto the COLUMN tab >> CHECK “Preferred width” >> enter the width of your sticker (Mine being 2.2″) >> make sure “Measure in” is in INCHES (or your preferred measure use) >> OK

You should now have a table set up perfectly with the dimensions of your stickers. You may need to delete excess rows or columns that run off the page—a half sticker is not a good sticker!

Step Three: Gather your images. I find it fun to use Pinterest as a search engine for background images. I’m making a Taylor Swift 1989 World Tour sticker for when I go see her in September!

Isn’t she gorgeous?!Once you find the image you want to work with, open it up >> right click the image >> SAVE IMAGE. I save my images to “downloads” for easy access, and I don’t have to rename it.

Now, go back to your Word document and then open up your downloads folder (or wherever you saved your image). Drag and drop the image into one of the boxes in the table.

Click on the FORMAT PICTURE tab >> CROP >> then align the image to your taste. Make sure that everything you want on the sticker is within the box!

Then, REPEAT this process until you have a whole chart of images! This is much easier if you save several images and drop them all in at the same time, rather than doing it one by one.

Can you tell that I love Taylor Swift and cute animals? **Disclaimer: None of these images are owned by me, and have only been used in a personal setting.

*I added some vitamins stickers under mine to save on paper…use all the space you can—this adhesive paper is not cheap!

**GIVE AWAY** If you promote this post (via Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest) and tag me in it by Saturday, August 22, 2015; I will choose one lucky person to receive an adhesive sheet JUST like this. Details below.

Step Five: Use your paper trimmer or scissors and cut each sticker out. & you’re good to go!All you have to do is peel the back off the stickers and stick them wherever you please!

What I love about this is that I am able to create ANY sticker ANY size for ANY event to task. I love how customizable it is, even if I have to get a little crazy with Word to make it happen. I love buying stickers, but sometimes they are not the perfect size or design. You can even make stickers from personal photos of your family or friends. Using this method, I can cater to all my needs and even make these without leaving the house!

More details on the giveaway: I decided to get a little fun and give back to some readers, and so why not a give away of a sticker sheet just liked this? If you promote this post on social media (via Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest) and tag me in itby Saturday, August 22, 2015; I will choose one lucky person to receive an adhesive sheet JUST like this. You must be following me on whatever social media site you decide to utilize. The winner will be notified using the social media site of choice on Sunday, August 23, 2015 by 5PM EST, and must respond in 24 hours (or else someone else will be chosen!) The sticker sheet will either be mailed as a whole to the winner.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this lengthy post, and am thankful you have stayed with me through it! I am definitely up for creating stickers for those readers who are overwhelmed by this DIY, yet still want some personalized stickers. Please email for further consultations about making your own sticker PDF sheet with me: cxyinchen@gmail.com

Thanks for reading,

Yin

Did you like this DIY? What images would you like to see on stickers? How did this work out for you? Please let me know in the comments below, and feel free to ask me any questions!